RECENT PERSPECTIVES IN THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION

A survey is presented on the economics of education in 3 industrially developed regions of the world: North America, Western Europe & the USSR. Although the discipline has gained prominence only since the early '60's, significant work has been going on much longer, especially in the US...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science quarterly 1974-09, Vol.55 (2), p.244-261
Main Authors: BENSON, CHARLES S., RITZEN, JO M., BLUMENTHAL, IRENE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic aspects
Economics
Economics education
Economy/Economies
Education
Education/Educational/Educator/ Educators/ Educationally
Educational research
Educational resources
Higher education
Human capital
Human resources
Investment return rates
Outcomes of education
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Summary:A survey is presented on the economics of education in 3 industrially developed regions of the world: North America, Western Europe & the USSR. Although the discipline has gained prominence only since the early '60's, significant work has been going on much longer, especially in the US, the UK & the USSR. The survey is concerned with major works in the areas of macro-, micro- & distributional economics, pointing to both accomplishments & shortcomings. Macroeconomic work includes studies on the contribution of education to economic growth & the concept of human capital, being concerned with education & labor productivity, rates of return & manpower planning, etc. Areas are pinpointed where important work remains to be done, such as investigating the potentialities of nonformal education for economic development, assigning more precise values to social benefits & costs of education, & determining the most desirable mix between general & occupational education. In the area of microeconomics, major work on production functions is critically reviewed, acknowledging the predominant role of US scholarship. The role of production function research for the equitable distribution of educational services is also stressed & attention is drawn again to areas needing further work such as more effective use of students' time, especially in higher education. In the 3rd area, distributional economics, problem areas include the effectiveness of social distribution of educational opportunities & the screening or sorting function of education & an assessment of the resulting social benefits. Another topic discussed is the distribution of income as a result of the operation of a particular educational system & its financing. Attention is finally drawn to the analysis of education as a consumer good. In the process theoretical & applied research, including statistical & econometric analyses of existing policies, are reviewed with indications about likely directions for future work in all 3 regions. AA.
ISSN:0038-4941
1540-6237